


Never Break the Chain

by Luka



Category: Primeval
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 11:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19424839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luka/pseuds/Luka
Summary: The team face an agonising wait to see whether Stephen and Ryan can be rescued from the Ice Age.





	Never Break the Chain

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ice Age](https://archiveofourown.org/works/338306) by [fredbassett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett). 



> This is a remix of Fredbassett's story Ice Age, written for a Primeval Denial challenge. I've done it as a series of linked drabbles, each one from a different point of view. Thanks to Fredbassett for the loan of her OCs - Lyle, Ditzy, Blade, Finn and Kermit.

Hart was dying, and Ryan knew it. All the rage, begging and talking dirty there was couldn't keep him from slipping into unconsciousness from which he'd never return. 

Ryan wanted to scream obscenities and pleas into the freezing air. For the first time in his life he'd found someone he wanted to be with. And now the screwed-up little fucker that was Stephen Hart was going to die on him in some freaky prehistoric timeline.

Ryan thumped the injured ankle hard. "Don't die, you little shit!"

But the words froze on his lips as Hart's eyes fluttered, then closed again.

~*~*~*

Stephen opened his eyes. All he could see before him was a stone wall. He was warm, though. But there was an odd smell surrounding him. Hang on, he was wrapped in animal furs. He started laughing.

"What's so funny?" 

"It's like something out of the bloody Flintstones!" But he snuggled deeper into the furs.

Then he realised it was Helen who had spoken. She was sitting in front of a fire, calmly eating an apple. He wondered where the hell you found apples in the Ice Age.

"Would you like an ice cream?"

"I'd rather have a bacon sandwich …"

~*~*~*

"It's nothing to do with fucking Lester! If we delay any longer, Claudia, they'll be dead." Cutter knew he was shouting.

"Nick, wait …"

"We don't have that luxury! They've been stranded for almost an hour. This is the Ice Age, not the bloody Riviera." He rubbed his aching forehead.

"Lester says …"

"I don't care what Lester says. I'm in charge here, Lieutenant Lyle is willing to take the risk, and that's the important thing."

"But …"

"If Stephen and Captain Ryan die, their deaths will be on your conscience, Claudia."

All he could see was Stephen smiling at his beloved soldier.

~*~*~*

At least twice a day Claudia wondered why she was attracted to Nick Cutter. Usually she had an unerring eye for the bad boys with fast cars, sharp suits and expense accounts. This time, though, she'd fallen for a scruffy, scrappy Scotsman who cultivated his loner status like a badge. 

And she thought of Stephen Hart, that serious and withdrawn young man, who had always seemed to be surrounded by an aura of sadness. She'd noticed the difference - they all had - since he and Captain Ryan became an item. If Stephen died, she knew it would rip Cutter to shreds.

~*~*~*

Ditzy saw Lyle hand the mobile back to Claudia and sighed. The Lieutenant was about to go apeshit. Ditzy wondered idly what Lyle and Lester's make-up fucks were like.

"What did he say?"

"He advises us that the risks are too great."

"And …?"

"I told him to stick his advice up his arse."

"And …?"

"He said he'd report me to my superior officer."

"And you told him Preston would say the same?"

"Yep. You ready, mate?"

"Always." Ditzy heaved his pack onto his shoulders and gesticulated to the others. "Come on lads, let's go and bail out love's young dream."

~*~*~*

"Just stop fucking complaining for one minute, Blade! I'm the one likely to get piles from sitting waist-deep in the snow. Anyway, you're the one with the biggest feet."

Blade rolled his eyes. He hadn't actually said anything, but he knew better than to argue. Trust Lyle, the experienced caver, to rig up a rescue system when there wasn't a single inanimate object to attach ropes and ladders to.

Hart had apparently got a knackered ankle and was concussed. The boss seemed fine, if the cussing was anything to go by. Ditzy winked at Blade and disappeared over the ledge.

~*~*~*

Finn knew the others took the piss out of him for hero-worshipping the boss. He didn't care. But it had come as a bombshell to learn Ryan was gay – until Ditzy snapped that he was just the same person.

Finn hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath until the boss emerged from the crevasse. He looked like shit, but he was alive. And Finn prayed that his – what did you call a male partner? – was too.

"Ditz, is he …?"

"Hold this and stop asking damn-fool questions for once in your life. He'll be fine. Jon, we're nearly ready to roll."

~*~*~*

"Come on, boss, not far now." Kermit could see Ryan was struggling. He wasn't surprised. Anyone else would have been hauled home on a stretcher.

Ryan staggered along, hand tracing the thin nylon line that kept them going in the right direction. The blizzard seemed to be getting worse.

"They’ll have Stephen back in no time." Kermit realised he was babbling. But they all knew how much the young scientist meant to the captain, a man who rarely showed any emotion.

Kermit suddenly thought of his wife Cara, and knew his world would fall apart if anything happened to her.

~*~*~*

Abby itched to wring Connor's neck. He kept popping in and out of the anomaly like a blasted cuckoo clock. And she didn't need him wittering that the anomaly was living on borrowed time.

But she almost jumped out of her skin when Captain Ryan and Kermit stumbled through. She nodded to the young soldier to let him know she could manage, and carefully wrapped a blanket around Ryan's shoulders.

"Drink this," she said quietly, handing him a mug of coffee. "By the time you've finished it, he'll be safe."

And she could see he was desperate to believe her.

~*~*~*

Connor huddled deep into his clothes and resolved to go to the charity shop the next day to get a proper winter coat. He didn't know what good he was doing freezing his bits off the wrong side of the anomaly, but it made him feel better. He'd been scared before, but this time he was terrified for Stephen.

Suddenly four shapes loomed out of the snowstorm carrying a stretcher. He counted Ditzy, Blade, Finn and Kermit.

"Where's the lieutenant?"

"Behind us," snapped Ditzy, directing the stretcher through the anomaly.

Except he wasn't. And the anomaly was about to close.

~*~*~*

This time it looked like curtains to Lyle. The woolly rhino clearly thought Lyle had 'dinner' stamped on his forehead. And it didn't take the hint when he observed that global warming would see it off.

A few bullets aimed over its head cramped its style. But it also cost Lyle vital seconds. He could see the anomaly fading as he speeded up, his lungs burning. Bastard thing was going to go … And he dived for it, ending up with a bemused Connor and Ryan staring down at him.

"Ten for artistic merit," said Ryan, hauling him to his feet.

~*~*~*

Stephen was already looking substantially better. There was colour in his cheeks, his ankle was strapped and the paramedics had shone lights into his eyes. Ditzy reckoned they'd keep him in overnight.

"You look like shit," observed Ryan, perching on the bench in the back of the ambulance.

"And I love you too …" Stephen's fingers brushed Ryan's knee. 

"I should hope you do, scaring the crap out of me like that."

"Not my fault. Blame the mammoth …"

"So you won't be wanting your dinosaur jim-jams tonight?"

"I'd rather have a bacon sandwich."

"In your dreams!"

"Funny you should say that …"


End file.
